Master Raven BT

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BT For Beginners: The Basics

1st rule of BT: Don't be scared of BT. Many approach BT with a lot of apprehension. This stems from a larger problem of people's tendencies to over-complicate Raven. I promise you, BT is nothing to fear. Its not that deep. Treat it the same as any other stance in the game where you can't block.

2nd rule of BT: Always remember that b3+4 exists. This is a very important command as it is Raven's safest BT exit. You'll want to use it if you enter BT with minus frames and your opponent keeps going for interrupts. Also do keep note of which moves enter BT (the most common ones are db2, 4,1, qcf4 and df2). Making sure you don't enter stance on accident and being aware of your transitions/exits is standard for any character with stances.

3rd rule of BT: Don't mistake BT as primarily a vehicle for mid/low 50-50's. Rather than whether your opponent will block low or block mid, the real "mixup" for BT is a bit different in that its more about whether your opponent will press buttons (interrupt) or respect you (turtle). With this knowledge, decision-making in BT becomes much more clear.

When starting out, good BT options you can use are:

For opponents that like to turtle:

BT f4,3 (beefy low to remind your opponent to watch their ankles)
BT d4 (fast high-crushing low poke that tracks both ways)
BT throws (Raven has a 2-way throw mixup that's fully ambiguous. Pure guess for the opponent)

For opponents that like to interrupt:

BT 1+2 (powercrush mid that's useful at discouraging interrupt attempts)
BT f3 (i13 fast CH mid also good for deterring interrupts)
BT 1,4 (i8 jab string)

BRINGING SYNERGY TO BT

Getting the most out of BT is an exercise in two things: counter-poking and conditioning the opponent. Both of which require you to be at least somewhat adept at reading your opponent and paying attention to their tendencies.

What do I mean by this exactly? If you notice your opponent keeps using jabs or other highs in response to BT then you should exploit that, by using high-crush options like BT d4, BT b2, BT crouch-turn or even BT d3 if you're really confident. The point is you're looking for options to counter or exploit your opponent's decision-making i.e counter-poking.

This is how you can start using BT with better coherency and as more than a hodge-podge assortment of random moves. Raven's BT stances really shines once you are able to establish a mind game.

What follows from here, is an in-depth break-down of Raven's BT tools as counter pokes and the behaviours they're best suited to exploit.

Intermediate Skill: Counter-Poking

Counter-poking is important to staying one step ahead of the opponent mentally. Counter-poking is knowing what's the best response to a certain action from the opponent. Its knowing that the opponent will commit to an approach when they're at a certain range. Knowing how they'll respond after being made to block something. With enough experience you can even start pre-empting your opponent's behavioural patterns to get them to behave how you want them to.

This of course requires you to have strong familiarity with your kit. Understanding the tools available to you so well that you instinctively know which tool to respond with, in a given situation. Rather than just throwing things out on a whim, in the hopes that maybe you’ll get lucky. That's what this guide will help you to work towards.

You may feel this makes BT complicated, if you have to remember a counter for every option your opponent could take. But really the only thing you have to keep track of is whether your opponent is respecting your BT stance or if they're pressing buttons to interrupt.

Opponent is Respecting / Not taking their turn

If they're respecting, it means they've either frozen up or they're twitch ducking. For opponents that freeze up, you can go straight for their ankles with BT f4,3. Or you can opt for BT b3 if you want plus frames and want to hold onto your turn a bit longer to test your opponent's patience or set them up for a BT1,4 frame trap.

Below are common behaviours to expect from opponent’s that aren’t freezing up but aren’t pressing buttons to take their turn back either.

Stepping

Stepping may feel like a silver bullet solution to BT, but Raven has good answers for stepping. Majority of her BT options track SSR but BT b3 is homing, BT d4 tracks both ways and BT f2 and the BT3,4 string both track SSL. Oftentimes opponents might give up on stepping when they realise they can’t avoid BT d4.

  Also worth keeping in mind that BT is largely dependent on the frame situation. Entering BT on block means Raven is very vulnerable to being interrupted or stepped. But entering BT on hit means Raven is plus and even certain linear options like BT f4,3 become harder to step.

Twitch-Ducking

For twitch ducking opponents, they're trying to low parry BT d4 and/or duck the BT throw. This might be annoying since it becomes harder to correctly mix them up and feels like you’re putting yourself into a guess. But the important thing to remember is that they’re not pressing buttons when they're twitch-ducking. They’re not denying you, your turn. Thus, the best way to exploit this behaviour is to go for pressure options. Make them regret letting you have your turn free by holding onto it for an extended period.  

But how does one pressure in BT? The key to BT pressure is understanding how to play "small Tekken" in BT. This is elaborated on in the BT Sequences section further below.

Opponent Is Pressing Buttons

So if the opponent is often going for interrupts, then it’s worth paying attention to what sort of options they’re relying on.

The common response tactic is to just use the BT1+2 power crush. Against those with little Raven experience it’s very easy to catch them out with BT1+2 as their usual Tekken instincts tell them that a BT opponent means free hits in the back. But this can only pay-off for so long. As BT1+2 can be stepped, is -13 on block, has small range and quite bad on whiff. Plus BT1+2 won’t protect you from lows. So it is quite a committal option. It is better then, to opt for options that may be less rewarding but won’t get you punished in case you suspected the opponent would interrupt but they didn’t.

  Common Anti-BT tactics:  

Dick-jab

Easily the most common anti-BT tactic. Dick-jabs are generally very good at stealing back a turn and before they used to be the perfect "I don't wanna deal with BT" option (especially back when Raven's b3+4 wasn't fast enough to block them in time). With S2 turning Raven's BT1+2 into a powercrush, the opponent now has to think twice about using dick-jabs. Because while dick-jabs are fast, they have slow-ish recovery. If you are wary of using BT1+2, you can turn around with b3+4. You'll block the dickjab, leaving the opponent at -5. With the opponent at -5, you can interrupt anything the opponent tries with db2, df1, b4 or 3,3. You could also sidestep. Be sure to never let the opponent get away with using dick-jab on block as a FC setup.

BT f3 also works against dick-jabs. Tho I only use it in scenarios where my opponent is dick-jabbing when I'm plus.

Lastly if you really want to punish your opponent hard for dickjabbing then you should use b2,2 more. b2,2 has more pushback on block and it’s just enough to make dick-jabs whiff if you turn around with b3+4. Therefore, you can whiff-punish dick-jabs with ff3.

After blocked db2, BT1+2 is your strongest deterrent against downjabs. b2,2 into b3+4 will make downjabs whiff.

Jab Check

Jab checking is common because it’s an all-round safe bet. Jabs also recover in time to block BT1+2 after activating its armour frames. But jabs are highs. So they’re vulnerable to high-crush options such as BT d1, BT d4, BT d3 (if you’re really confident) and both the forward and retreating BT crouch turns.  

All BT counter options available to Raven against jabs.

Df1 Check

 Another common tactic, especially for characters who have a df1 with fast recovery. Dealing with df1's means paying attention to the frame situation. After either a blocked db2 (-4) or blocked b2,2 (-3), BT 1 will beat df1's.

b3+4 will also turn around in time to block df1’s but the retreating crouch-turn can get clipped.

What Raven can do to counter df1's

Generic df4

The generic df4 is a i12 kicking mid attack. Some of them are useful against Raven’s BT because of their pushback. If Raven uses BT1+2, some generic df4's will push her back far enough to make the BT1+2 whiff. This is true for Dragunov, Yoshi, Asuka and Nina. Not the case, however, for other df4's like Kazumi's. Seems like a strong OS but only viable if Raven enters BT with negative frames. Again paying attention to the frame situation and using alternative BT transitions will help. 

Hopkicks/Orbital

Sometimes opponents don't want to have to deal with BT at all and will just throw out a Hail Mary hopkick/orbital to see if it works or to low crush BT d4. But they're only a concern when entering BT with negative frames. BT jabs can work on some hopkicks to float them out of it.   Turning around to block a hopkick allows you to punish with 4,1 so you’ll enter BT with plus frames and not have to worry as much about losing to a YOLO hopkick/orbital.

Lows

Lows can be quite troublesome. Particularly high-crush lows like a generic d4. Its easier to counter non high-crush lows if the frame situation is on your side (the benefits of having an i8 jab string). But of course BT1 won't work on something like a generic d4. BT powercrush and BT f1+2 reversal won't protect you from lows and Raven unfortunately can't turn around fast enough to block low in time (tho she can make some stubby lows whiff using her BT db crouchturn). db2,1 can call out non high-crush lows but will whiff against generic d4's.

So what does this mean for Raven? It means you're going to have to be a bit smarter about how you use BT. Generic d4 is only really problematic against db2 as a BT transition. Alternative options include:

Raw BT - Using BT raw (literally just running up to your opponent and hitting b3+4) allows you to skip block stun and the frame situation entirely. BT becomes entirely based on timing and reactions because the frame situation is basically neutral. Using raw BT also allows you to gauge how your opponent reacts to situations with very little time to respond & formulate a defence strategy. Going into raw BT then BT d4 is very hard to react to and will have your opponent focusing more on twitch-ducking or resorting to panic buttons, which makes them susceptible to being baited.

b2,2 - b2,2 is always a useful alternative, because of its frame situation as mentioned before. It is less minus on block and more plus on hit than db2. But most importantly in this case, b2,2 has a mid extension. Many people mistake b2,2's extensions as a vehicle for a 50/50 mixup but that's not what they're for. They exist to call out your opponent for not respecting BT. The only reason you'd ever want to use b2,2,3 is to get the CH launch to catch the opponent pressing buttons. Not to catch them ducking. b2,2,3 is indeed very high-risk as its launch on block, but you get a big reward for making the correct read. And the point isn't just to get damage but to make your opponent think twice about using lows. The damage just helps with hammering that point home.

Plus on block BT transitions - There are only two BT transitions that are plus on block: b4,b4 and b1+2,2 which are +1 and +2 respectively. Honestly its not much, but they do afford you the opportunity to call out any low (high-crush or not) with BT f3 or BT d1.

BT cancels - More or less similarly to raw BT, the idea with BT cancels is less focusing on the frame situation and more on testing your opponent's reaction time. These cancels may have a longer start-up framewise than true raw BT, but its impossible to visually react to them and still formulate a response in time. If you do get hit out of these cancels its either because your opponent was mindlessly mashing (and you can then use other tactics to exploit that behaviour) or they called you out on a read.

uf4 BT cancel - uf4 is already a powerful tool on its own. The extension exists to make people wary of pressing buttons afterwards but because uf4 is only -4 on block, its far better to sidestep after to bait out and punish whiffs. This is an excellent deterrent to pressing buttons, which then gives you leeway to enter BT via uf4,B. Your opponent must risk sitting tight and leaving themselves subject to a BT mix or risk pressing buttons and getting baited into whiffing or being called out by the uf4,4 extension.

BT from FC - In S3 Raven was given w3+4,B which allows her to smoothly transition out of her CD and into BT. Tho technically its faster to crouch cancel then do raw BT but the idea is the same for either method. When faced with Raven's CD at range 0, the opponent is less likely to press buttons out of fear of CH ws2 (& because Raven can instant block from her CD). So if you've gotten the opponent to sit tight when under CD pressure, you can slip into BT and take advantage of the opponent freezing up as their mind has to switch from defending the CD mix to defending the BT mix which is a different can of worms.

Intermediate Skill: BT Sequences

Counter-poking is all fine and well but it is mostly a reactive way of using BT. What if you want to use BT in a more pro-active manner? Or what if you don't have much intel on the opponent to engage in counter-poking strategies? This is where knowing how to use BT as a pressure tool comes in.

But how to pressure and keep your turn in BT? This is why its important to understand how to play "small Tekken" in BT (i.e not to go straight for the big moves that end your turn right away on block). With "smaller" or filler BT moves, one can create a BT sequence. A sequence of pokes that'll help prolong your turn rather than end it prematurely by committing to a big move too hastily. This is where you can really make BT shine as you mentally wear down your opponent.

Building a BT sequence does require some creativity. One shouldn't flow-chart a sequence. In this section I'll explain the reasoning and decision-making that goes behind a sequence. A BT sequence also doesn't necessarily need to be complicated and hard to follow, to be good. So long as you understand what purpose you're using it for. Knowing the purpose of your BT sequence as a pressure tool is more important than the actual sequence of pokes itself.

This clip demonstrates the basic differences in BT sequences that seek to exploit impatience and those that exploit patience

Basic Principles

When pressuring, you need to have a goal in mind. Don't try pressure just for the sake of pressuring. You either want to test your opponent's patience and see how long it takes them to crack and eventually over-extend. Or you're using options that help you hold onto your turn to throw you off your opponent's low parry timing (i.e using filler moves to mask the timing of when you will commit to something beefier). And all this depends on your ability to get a read on how patient or impatient your opponent is. Are they likely to respect or challenge you in BT? Have you conditioned them into either of these behaviours?

This section will cover basic sequences as well as how to take advantage of the opponent for being too patient or impatient in the face of a BT sequence.

Most Basic Sequence

The most straight-forward sequence to pressure with are db2 loops. These are done by looping db2 into itself (db2 -> b3+4 -> db2) or with other filler moves like BT f2 or BT 1 over and over (db2 -> BT f2 -> db2 -> BT f2). This can serve 1 of 2 purposes.

A) To play around with db2 timing; in the case of looping db2 with itself.

B) To work on the opponent's patience and agitating them into making a response, in the case of looping db2 with other BT filler.

A) Looping db2 into itself is a good litmus test to see how fidgety the opponent is.
B) BT f2 loops make for a good way to test the opponent's patience if they are turtling

Notice how JDCR repeatedly catches out his opponent just by delaying the timing of his db2's

Db2 loops allows you to hold on to your turn for a bit longer while making it more difficult for the opponent to determine when they should attempt to take their turn back. Anytime you turn around with b3+4 you could go for the high-crushing d4, you could sidestep, you could crouch-dash or sidestep then crouch-dash. You could throw out a standing 4 or 1,1 to see if they pressed anything.

A sequence like db2 -> BT 1 -> db2 works for the same reason. Except you're replacing the "empty" action of b3+4 with an attack. If the opponent got hit by BT 1 it means they pressed something slower than i12 as db2 is -4 on block and BT 1 is i8. Also if BT 1 hits, then that's a free opportunity to push a CD mixup or go for raw BT.

The db2 -> BT f2 -> db2 sequence is useful as BT f2 being a mid helps to call out twitch duckers (also that it tracks SSL). And even tho BT f2 is -5 on block, the threat of getting CH launched by the BT f2,3 extension, will help to keep the opponent respecting. You can also use BT f2,4 to keep the opponent in check if you want a safe string extension (tho it is a high). And here the same principle is still at play. After BT f2 you could opt for defensive option like back-dash, or continue your offence with another db2 or b2,2 or CD in the opponent's face. Combine both offence and defence with a sidestep into db2 or full crouch.

You can see how this becomes a mental game of you're opponent having to risk pressing buttons or sit tight and subject themselves to continued pressure.

Punishing Impatience

Punishing impatience is about using tactics that exploit your opponent's decision to challenge you. Either because they are generally trigger-happy or you've exhausted their patience and agitated them into over-extending. Punishing impatience is about calling out your opponent for pressing buttons at the wrong moment during your BT sequence. And this is where counter-poking skills become very useful. Knowing that your opponent will press something in a given scenario is always valuable; but knowing what they will press and how to counter it, is infinitely moreso. Sometimes you don't even need to know the exact buttons. Sometimes just noticing whether the opponent is using big buttons or small buttons to stop you, will suffice.

So the Counter-Poking section is about common responses to BT and how to counter them. This section is just to lampshade when would the opponent be urged to press buttons and why? Once you can start understanding this in-game, you can start thinking ahead of your opponent and even conditioning them to play into your hands.

So let's go over the 2 categories of behaviours for this section. The most important is identifying what type of opponent you're dealing with. Largely this comes down to observation.

Is your opponent the type to commit to pressing buttons in the neutral without provocation? Do they just starting doing strings at random mid-screen? If so, it probably won't take much to agitate them. Sometimes just occupying a certain range, feigning an approach or making the opponent block once is enough to provoke them into pressing buttons. Such opponents are very common in the "middle" ranks. Some have absolutely no patience and can't help themselves from pressing buttons at every opportunity. You know your opponent is going to press in most situations, it's just on you to find the right counter-poke option. You might not even need counter-poking and can just rely on whiff-punishing and CH setups.

If you're opponent needs a little more convincing to commit to pressing something. That's where something like db2 loops come in. You're goal would be to agitate the opponent into pressing buttons at the wrong time. And thus to catch them out with the "big" buttons like BT1+2, BT1,4, BT f3, BT throws etc. Buttons that either end your turn on block or return to neutral on hit. The better you understand the buttons your opponent is likely to retaliate with, the better you'll be at correctly counter-poking them.

BT sequences that can exploit the opponent's impatient. You're essentially setting them up for a BT1+2 or fishing for a BT2 -> BT1,4 CH confirm.
If you know you can easily agitate the opponent then that gives you opportunity to bait them into whiffing.

Punishing Patience

Sometimes the opponent isn't easy to agitate. Or it can be hard to determine their breaking point. Think about the clips in the Impatience section, what if the opponent was not so hasty to press buttons in those situations? What if they just kept blocking?

Thus, punishing the opponent for being too patient can require a bit more finesse. You might know the opponent won't disrespect but you might not want to commit to a beefier option incase you make the wrong read and end your turn prematurely. Punishing patience then becomes an exercise in keeping the opponent in a situation where their health will be continuously chipped away if they don't act or masking the timing of your big buttons. The goal is to make it harder for the opponent to read you and thus less able to properly defend against your BT sequence.

A BT sequence that sets to exploit your opponent for respecting, will involve a lot of BT filler moves. These are low-committal or "small Tekken" buttons that won't give your turn away if they're blocked.

Such attacks would be BT jabs, BT f2, BT b2 and BT 3,4. These are options that are either relatively quick or are -5 or less on block. Each BT jab has their own use.

BT 2 is useful for CH fishing, because CH BT 2 guarantees a free BT 1,4. Also BT 2 is +1 on block.
BT 1 is useful because even if it whiffs or gets ducked, Raven isn't in much danger as she will be front-facing.
BT 3,4 is very useful because it is i10, neutral on block and leaves Raven front facing. Its not easy to defend since it is a high, mid string. The opponent has to remember to stand to block the 2nd hit and attempting a WS interrupt could risk them getting CH (which nets Raven a free 2,4). It is possible to SSL the 2nd hit but the window is tight.
BT f2 and its benefits have been explained prior in the Basic BT sequences section.
BT b2 has the same mindgame as BT f2 (2nd hit is a CH launcher) except BT b2 leaves Raven BT and BT b2,4 is safe and jails. BT b2 won't end Raven's turn but BT b2,4 will.

In this clip you can see how Tissuemon adapts his BT sequence to better take advantage of his very patient opponent

While unsafe, a key BT filler move is BT d4. This is your fast low, to remind the opponent they have to watch their ankles. BT d4 is particularly useful because unlike BT f4,3 the situation doesn't reset to neutral afterwards and unlike most low pokes, BT d4 is plus on hit.

GoAttack demonstrates how BT d4 really puts the opponent in the hot seat. He derives a complete mindgame of when he'll go for BT d4 and whether he'll chase or bait whiffs after it hits.

BT d4 on hit becomes a gateway for a FC mixup. This works because after BT d4 hits, ws4 becomes uninterruptible and ws2 will trade with jabs, with the trade going in Raven's favour. Also ff4 will catch steppers. So it is unwise for the opponent to press buttons and if they don't, then that gives Raven a chance for a CD mix. A whole mindgame is built on BT d4 landing on hit. That's what makes it a strong filler option.

But that therefor makes it something the opponent will definitely want to low parry. So it becomes important to not become predictable with your BT sequences and mix up the timing of when you go for BT d4. And this brings us to our last type of filler options; "empty" actions.

"Empty" actions such as turning around with b3+4 to exit or enter BT raw, the reverse as well as forward BT crouch turn and dashing forwards while BT; all make for good BT filler. GoAttack is very good at using empty actions as filler when he suspects his opponent will respect him too much. But you don't necessarily have to be fancy to take advantage of empty actions. The primary focus is, again, just to make it harder for the opponent to read you and throw off their low-parry timing. Its all in the service of seeing whether the opponent will challenge or respect you in that moment. If you find you're getting away with empty actions then that's signals that the opponent has frozen up and you could opt for a BT throw or slip into FC for a hellsweep etc.

Examples of how useful empty actions can be. Take note of what the opponent is doing in each example. Often they're twitch-ducking or going for some other defensive option.